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What Can the Air Force Learn From Netflix?


Majestik Møøse

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Fell another 10% as of lunch time.

These idiots paid $90 Million of 24% of their cash on hand for the rights to stream Dreamworks movies...sounds impressive right? Dreamworks has a total of 22 movies in their catalog...all kids movies. Maybe Kung Foo Panda can save this trainwreck.

I am amazed the Board has not stepped in to remove Reed Hastings as the CEO. Under his leadership this stock has fallen from $306.00 a share to todays' low of $115.00....oh and when you review the insider trading data, he has done nothing but sell for the past three months!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Please tell me you've sold by now. Netflix is going to get destroyed tomorrow.

I don't know...now that they've changed their mind about splitting the services, they may be alright...although making that announcement probably cost them a few customers already.

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I don't know...now that they've changed their mind about splitting the services, they may be alright...although making that announcement probably cost them a few customers already.

"They may be alright"?

Dude they lost $44.00 a share in the pre-market. This stock has now fallen 70% from over $300.00 a share to $75.00 a share. Over $10 Billion in market cap evaporated by a clueless CEO. This is truly epic fail territory and it has been fun to watch.

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I read yesterday that Netflix has lost nearly 1,000,000 subscribers since announcing their "improved" service. If the Air Force is really interested in shedding people, maybe it should study the Netflix business strategy a little more closely. Then again...maybe Netflix learned its strategy from the Air Force.

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"They may be alright"?

Dude they lost $44.00 a share in the pre-market. This stock has now fallen 70% from over $300.00 a share to $75.00 a share. Over $10 Billion in market cap evaporated by a clueless CEO. This is truly epic fail territory and it has been fun to watch.

Definately a PR nightmare with the split pricing, then split company, then recant it all act. At the same time, I think Netflix is right. They fundamentally sell an electronic product, but distribute it through the one of the most antiquated logistics systems in America - the US Postal Service. In 10 years, I don't see anyone taking red envelopes back and forth to the mail-container like we have done for the last few. I compare this whole thing to the iMac back in the late 90s. I remember the translucent plastic blob and all the uproar over how the thing didn't have a 3.5" floppy drive (you had to buy that as an external option). Two desktop models later, the 3.5" floppy was useless. Netflix probably leaned a little too far forward on this one, but they were on the right vector.

I'm pretty sure that my home movie watching in 2020 will be electronically delivered. The real question is who will be the content delivery company? Will it be Netflix, Hulu, Blockbuster, the media giants like Viacom or Time Warner, or even Google? I think Netflix is still best positioned to be that provider, but I wouldn't be surprised if Google is looking to fill that gap.

Edit- punctuation

Edited by Dupe
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Definately a PR nightmare with the split pricing, then split company, then recant it all act. At the same time, I think Netflix is right. They fundamentally sell an electronic product, but distribute it through the one of the most antiquated logistics systems in America - the US Postal Service. In 10 years, I don't see anyone taking red envelopes back and forth to the mail-container like we have done for the last few. I compare this whole thing to the iMac back in the late 90s. I remember the translucent plastic blob and all the uproar over how the thing didn't have a 3.5" floppy drive (you had to buy that as an external option). Two desktop models later, the 3.5" floppy was useless. Netflix probably leaned a little too far forward on this one, but they were on the right vector.

I'm pretty sure that my home movie watching in 2020 will be electronically delivered. The real question is who will be the content delivery company? Will it be Netflix, Hulu, Blockbuster, the media giants like Viacom or Time Warner, or even Google? I think Netflix is still best positioned to be that provider, but I wouldn't be surprised if Google is looking to fill that gap.

Edit- punctuation

Exactly. I think Netflix will be able to recover from this mis-step. They were leaning way out there because they don't want to end up as the next AOL, having built this awesome concept from the ground up then having some other company improve it and drive them out of business because they're still mailing DVDs. I just think they over-estimated how ready people were to part with the DVD portion of the service.

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My uninformed opinion, but I think you guys are WAY off.

The price increase is what most are pissed about, especially considering they had a 20% increase just a few months before the most recent one of 60% . This company had a cult following, partially because they were innovative in delivering content, but mostly because they developed a rapport with their customer base. In the past when they made an unwise decision the customers spoke out and the company listened, a rare thing this day and age and it served to cement that company status with the customers. Hastings broke faith with the price hike for two reasons: First, very poor spin, the used the metaphor of a latte..."we are only raising the price of our service one latte", that did not sit well with the customer base. Second, hubris, the attitude since the price hike has been "I don't care what the customer base thinks, I am going to raise the price and end DVD service....screw you"...In Hastings most recent interview he likens the people who are upset to the "Tea Party", I kid you not, go read the interview that came out yesterday. This guy has completely lost touch or he is purposely trying to wreck the company.

Another key piece of info, check the insider trading for the past six months, Hastings has done nothing but sell, even he does not believe in this company anymore.

Will the DVD business die, most certainly, but it is not dead yet and to turn your back on it now is to walk away from a cash cow and a loyal customer base. Netflix can say streaming is the future, but their online catalog is crap and everyone knows it. Mix in the loss of the Starz deal and they don't look any better than Hulu or Amazon which both have a desire to tap this market. The dark horse is Blockbuster. Dish Network bought them for pennies on the dollar and they are putting together a serious challenge to Netflix, especially if Dish backs them with enough cash to expand the online portion...how prophetic would it be if Blockbuster rose from the flames like a phoenix to crush Netflix at their own game?

The real lesson and one that should play to the Air Force as well is the impact of social media. The bloggers and facebook had a field day with story. Recent issues in the Air Force like reflective belts and the VSP got some traction, but if another misstep gets anywhere neat the press this story did, it could have real impact on the way we do things.

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The real lesson and one that should play to the Air Force as well is the impact of social media. The bloggers and facebook had a field day with story. Recent issues in the Air Force like reflective belts and the VSP got some traction, but if another misstep gets anywhere neat the press this story did, it could have real impact on the way we do things.

The Marines learned that with the "KIA bracelet ban" debacle of a couple weeks ago.

Of course they turned it right around (in true USMC fashion) and fought back by dropping the double-whammy of going full-time sleeves down, and cutting AD T/A by 75%...

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  • 2 months later...

10% of the people in the squadron get 90% of the work done...sound familiar? 90% of the squadron would be fired by Netflix and replaced...or better yet, never hired in the first place. Imagine the freedom you could give your people if the worst of them was an all-star.

I know that this is rehashing stuff brought up a few months ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning

This screening is largely done up-front before you commission and you are already getting the top 20% of the population. It also doesn't take into account training and money invested.

Someone once calculated that to get a B-52 nav qualified, it takes ~$2.3 million and roughly 3 years of training. To get them to the point where they are proficient doubles that figure. To get them to be an instructor adds another 50% and 2 years. To be a good instructor, another 50 and another year. So, even if you have a rock star, it's gonna take 6 years and ~$6.9 million. If you fired nine out of every ten, sure, you'd have the cream of the crop (sts), but you'd never have enough instructors or qualified personnel.

Looks like Netflix stock is indeed back on the rise.

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